For Ken Maddison, the manager of the Ocean Falls hatchery since it opened in 2003, his passion for the industry as well as his ability to adapt to change and be constantly challenged means a high level of job satisfaction.
He joined Omega Salmon Group in 1992 after completing his degree in fish health at Malaspina. Ken has also run a trout farm in Langley that supplied eggs to Chile, helped to build Skytrain as a crane operator in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, and operated his own fish guiding business in Campbell River. He began his aquaculture career with a year at United Hatchery doing lab work. That led him to the saltwater side of the industry, first with Saga Seafarms and then Omega in Port Hardy. Ken soon realized he was most happy working with fish earlier in their lifecycle and made the change to freshwater permanent without any regrets.
There are no better people than those he works with, enthuses Ken, adding that it’s the quality of the relationships he’s built that adds such an important dimension to his job.
Ken was born in Nelson and attended high school in Cranbrook. He’s been married for 30 years to his childhood sweetheart, Shelly. They have two kids, a 16 year old daughter and a 21 year old son . The Maddison family is rounded out by Taffy the Yorkie Poo.
He enjoys vacationing in Mexico – ‘it’s a special place” – and would like to retire there when the time comes. Ken has a passion for hunting, fishing and enjoys doing home renovations. He’s done extensive work on both his Campbell River home as well as on the house he and Shelly bought in Ocean Falls five years ago.
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Real (pronounced “Ray-al”) Lachance feels fortunate to be “working on 10 years” at United Hatchery as a Technician, a job he adores because it allows him to combine his enjoyment of the outdoors and his love of animals. “They (the hatchery) needed people to pick eggs,” Real said recently, adding that this temporary job worked into a full-time, permanent position.
Born in Quebec City and now living on-site at the hatchery south of Courtenay on Vancouver Island, Real has been on the West Coast for 31 years, including six years spent in Abbotsford, working on a mink farm. Married to Fedelin, who calls herself Fe, the couple has four kids.
Visual arts has always been a love of Real’s, going back to his childhood when he watched his dad work in the family’s darkroom at home. Photography is still very much a part of his life. Armed with his Canon Rebel, Real is currently “getting into bird photography now”. A big part of this is the outdoor bird studio he’s designing. Complete with lush ivy as background and a bird feeder, Real is able to get close up shots as the “birds come to pose for me for free instead of having to chase them through the bush!” Another way Real cultivates his artistic side is through the creation of postcards that he sells on his website, www.reallachancepostcards.com/. Specializing in cruise ships, trains and other forms of transportation, “they’re selling like crazy,” Real commented, particularly in Europe.
By Gina Forsyth